A year after Twisted Sister‘s Stay Hungry delivered their legendary rock anthems “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock,” along with their power ballad “The Price,” the band’s next album took some different turns. Come Out and Play in 1985 found the band at a crossroads, as one of the most commercially successful metal bands, while wanting to get back to their metal and other roots.
The album had some nods to ’50s pop, including their cover of the Shangri-Las’ 1964 classic “Leader of the Pack,” written by George “Shadow” Morton, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich.
Coincidentally, as a session musician in the early 1960s, Billy Joel played piano on the Shangri-Las’ demo of “Leader of the Pack,” though the final version featured Italian pianist and composer Roger Rossi.
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[RELATED: 3 of Billy Joel’s Most Metal Moments]
“Be Chrool to Your Scuel”
Though Joel didn’t play on Twisted Sister’s rendition, he was featured on another Come Out and Play track, “Be Chrool to Your Scuel.” Featuring Alice Cooper on guest vocals, “Be Chrool to Your Scuel” still had a ’50s vibe with a bit more edge, along with Brian Setzer on guitar and late E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons.
A warped response song to Cooper’s 1972 classic “School’s Out,” Twisted Sister’s “Be Chrool to Your Scuel” was the opposite, and from the perspective of living in one’s private hell during the entire school day.
In the song, Dee Snider takes the first verse, Well I don’t think I’ll make it through another day…, with Cooper on the second.
Be cruel to your school
‘Cause you may never get another
Be cruel to your school
In the name of rock and roll
Be cruel to your school
Just like a sister or a brother
Be cruel to your school
In the name of rock and roll
Well I don’t think I’ll make it through another day
It’s eight o’clock and all ain’t well
My brain hurts so much it’s startin’ to decay
And I’m livin’ in my private hell
Didn’t somebody tell me this would be so great
Be the best thing I ever had?
How come they never told me ’bout the word “exaggerate”?
How’d somethin’ so good could get so bad?
Zombies, Bobcat Goldthwait, Luke Perry, and Too Much Gore for MTV
Directed by Marty Callner and featuring makeup and special effects by horror makeup artist and director Tom Savini, who worked on many of George A. Romero’s classics, along with Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and more, the “Be Chrool to Your Scuel” music video starred comedian and actor Bobcat Goldthwait as a twisted teacher.
After a lengthy, mini-movie intro, where Goldthwait “educates” his students (including a pre-90210 Perry) about the leading exports from South America and eating squirrels, the story takes a horrific turn after he takes a break to listen to Twisted Sister, and everyone in the teacher’s lounge turns into the band.
The video kicks off as the students and faculty turn into a school full of zombies, as Twisted Sister and Cooper make their way around the halls.
Joel, Setzer, and Clemons didn’t make a cameo, and the video was never broadcast much after its release since it was deemed too gory for MTV and was banned at the time.
Photo: Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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